


The Circus Kids, Back Together

by FeralScribe



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Molly has been tortured, Mollymauk Tealeaf Comes Back, POV Yasha (Critical Role), Platonic Soulmates, Post-rez Molly, Rescue, Reunions, The Circus Kids, The Mighty Nein get their god back, and Yasha gets her best friend back, vague resurrection circumstances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:40:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21929122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeralScribe/pseuds/FeralScribe
Summary: About a week ago, Jester had a Sending spell left for the day and, feeling wistful, used it to try to talk to Molly. And she got a response. Now the Mighty Nein have come to free him from the people who took him hoping they were getting Lucien and who tortured him when they found out they got the "wrong" guy. Yasha has cut down everyone who stood between her and her best friend, and nothing will stop her until they are reunited.
Relationships: Mollymauk Tealeaf & Yasha
Comments: 18
Kudos: 238





	The Circus Kids, Back Together

**Author's Note:**

> A Christmas gift for my beloved Milli, in hopes that her Circus Kids will find each other soon.

Yasha’s vision was still hazy from her rage, but she sprinted through the building, checking every room. Molly had told Jester he was somewhere very dark, too dark to see even with his keen eyes. Eventually she turned a corner and found a door that looked newer than the others. She tore it open. There was nothing but darkness inside.

“ _Molly?_ ” she screamed. Her heart was pounding. Her wings were still out. “ _Molly are you in there?_ ” She gritted her teeth and took a step into the darkness.

There was no ground beneath her feet. She stumbled forwards, only to find a step a few inches lower. Her hand grabbed hold of some sort of railing. The air in here smelled musty like old stones and moldy hay, with the faint stench of rotting shit.

Again, she screamed, “ _Molly?_ ”

“…Yasha?” The voice came from somewhere below her. Yasha carefully slunk down the stairs towards it, her heart beating even faster. She could hear rustling. “This… This better not be some sick game you’re playing. You’ve already ruined so much, don’t ruin her. Please, please don’t ruin her.” The voice was definitely his, but it was weak, trembling, terrified.

“Molly,” Yasha said more softly. “It’s me. Where are you?”

More rustling. Yasha followed her hunter’s training to pinpoint where it was coming from, locate the sound like a rat in the grass. “Do you have her?” he demanded, a little more fire in his tone. “Did you hurt her? You fucking bastards, if you did anything to her I swear I’ll tear my own throat out and haunt you until your dying days!”

“Molly,” Yasha pleaded, “it’s _me._ It’s Yasha.”

“I— I—” She followed the voice. It was getting louder. She reached the bottom of the stairs. She kept her head turned where she heard him, silently begging him to keep talking. It was what he was good at. “H-How do I know it’s you? What’s… What’s something only Yasha would know? _My_ Yasha?”

“I know you,” Yasha said. Her rage was gone now. All that was left was the need to find him. “I know a lot about you. I’m… realizing that I didn’t know _everything_ , but neither did you. Ask me anything, though. I’ll tell you.” She chuckled. “But I know you have such a bad memory you probably won’t know the answers to your own questions.”

A laugh. _His_ laugh. Short and jaded, but _his_. “What’s your wife’s name?”

“Zuala.” Yasha slid her feet carefully along the floor, hands outstretched. They touched something cold and hard. Bars. Metal bars. Like a jail cell.

“What book do you always keep with you?”

“An etiquette book, except I use it to press flowers.” Yasha blindly followed the row of cells towards his voice. Her feet were as quiet as a whisper on the stone floor. “You gave it to me.”

“What’s your recurring nightmare?”

Almost there. The smell of shit was getting worse too. “A battlefield. Everyone I’ve ever known and loved lies dead on it. Their blood is on my hands, on my sword…” She paused. “How do I know _you’re_ really you? Maybe you’re a decoy.”

Another hollow laugh. “I don’t feel like I’m really me anymore, but that was the point. They put me down here to forget Mollymauk Tealeaf so I could become Lucien again. They want their Nonagon back.”

“We killed them all,” Yasha said. “Every last one of them. I found the guy who you said was torturing you and I split his skull in half.”

“That’s my girl,” Molly said proudly. The next cell. It had to be the next cell. “Let’s see… Something only I would know that they couldn’t have tortured out of me…” There was a pause. Yasha stopped in front of the cell she swore was his. She groped for the door. “I don’t sleep so well without your snoring. Fjord doesn’t snore, he just has those dreams where he coughs up sea water. He swallowed a ball, a big glowing eye thingy. Same place I got Summer’s Dance. That was such a fight. The fucker kept blinking in and out of existence just to show off.”

Yasha couldn’t take it. She reached her hands through the bars. “Molly I’m here.”

Something patted her hand searchingly. It grabbed hold of her with what might have been an iron grip but was now a gentle pinch. “Yasha?” His voice was shaking more. “It’s really you?”

“It’s me, Molly. I’m going to get you out. Cover your ears. …Are they cov—”

“Got it!” Molly interrupted.

Yasha turned her head back the way she came, back to the door she could no longer see. “ _HE’S DOWN HERE!_ ” she bellowed. Something had to be done about this darkness. It was clearly magical. Caleb or Caduceus would have to fix it. Then she remembered. It had been so long since she used Magician’s Judge. She had cut her way through Molly’s captors with it, but she hadn’t used it to its full potential. She unsheathed it. Usually she had to point it at something to dispel that thing's magic, but the darkness was all around her and she didn’t know where it was coming from. She closed her eyes, followed her instincts, and swung.

When she opened her eyes again, the total darkness was gone. There were no light sources down here except for the dim light from the door at the top of the stairs. Everything was washed of color, but she could see. She looked into the cell and her heart broke.

Cowering on the ground, stripped of all clothing and jewelry, was a skinny scared tiefling. Tattoos covered part of his upper body, as well as the faint lines of scars. There were fresher wounds too, long scratches and swollen bruises and other nasty marks. The cell they put him in was one of about a dozen, all barely large enough for someone to lie down straight in. There was a bundle of rags on the floor that looked like it might be a crude bed. One corner of the cell contained a heap of poop. They literally hadn’t even given him a pot to piss in.

But it was him. It was Molly. Yasha fell to her knees, reaching her hands through the bars again to touch him, confirm he was real. Molly scrambled towards her. He pressed himself up against the bars between her arms and grabbed her in an embrace. His body shook with sobs. “Yasha…”

“Molly.” Yasha trembled too. Hot tears flowed down her cheeks. She had found him. She had saved him. No one was going to hurt him anymore. Her wings faded, but she felt a tickle on her back like the light touch of a feather…

Heavy thudding footsteps approached from the upper level, followed by the sound of several people coming down the stairs and a bit more light. “ _Molly!_ ” It was Jester. She threw herself at the cell. She burst into tears as well. “Molly Molly Molly oh my gosh you look _terrible!_ ” She sniffled then pulled a face. “Eugh! And you stink worse than Caleb!”

Molly chuckled weakly. “Do I? I’ve been down here so long I’m used to it by now. Where is that filthy bastard? He probably has some trick that will get me out of here.”

“I’m right here, Molly.” Caleb stepped forward. Behind him was Beau, who stood frozen, staring at Molly with a quivering lower lip.

Molly’s jaw dropped. “Why, Mister Caleb! You’ve certainly cleaned up well, haven’t you.” He smiled. “I knew you lot would have some stories to tell me, but I’m already intrigued.”

Caleb gestured for everyone to stand back. “This is going to be loud.” Yasha barely moved, but she covered her ears. Caleb said something quietly and suddenly there was a booming _CRACK_ followed by the door of Molly’s cell gently swinging open.

Yasha shoved Caleb aside to dive in and grab Molly. She pulled Molly into her arms, crying with joy and relief. He felt so much smaller than she remembered. From the messages Molly had been exchanging with Jester, they learned he had been down here for what might have been weeks or even months with only one meal per day.

“We are going to get you out of here,” Yasha said. “First place we are going is somewhere with an all-you-can-eat buffet and I will buy you two of them.”

Molly laughed and hugged her back. “Gods, I’ll probably puke everywhere. My stomach is the size of a raisin. I’d settle for some pocket bacon if anyone has any.”

“I have pastries!” Jester said. She shrugged off her bright pink haversack and rummaged through it. She also pulled out a spare cloak and threw it over him.

Molly smiled. “I knew I could count on you, Jester. Got any water in there?”

Beau unhooked her waterskin from her belt. “Here.” Her voice cracked as she tossed it to Yasha, who gave it to Molly.

Soon Molly had eaten and drank his fill. It really wasn’t much. He barely got through two doughnuts, though he drained all but a mouthful of Beau’s water. “Thank you,” he said, nuzzling into Yasha’s chest.

Yasha scooped him up and carried him. He was so light. He was also horribly dirty. An afternoon in a bathhouse would be perfect for him, but they probably wouldn’t let him in when he smelled this bad. There might be a stream nearby where they could wash him. Any outdoor source of water would be still be cold this time of year. They could heat it up, though. Or Caleb could take them back to the Xhorhaus or Nicodranas or anywhere with a simple tub.

“Caleb?” Yasha asked. “Can we go home?”

Caleb put his hand on her shoulder. “Yes, let us all go home.”

They gathered up Fjord and Nott and Caduceus, who were looting the bodies of the people they had just killed and — in Caduceus’s case — interrogating them. Fjord and Nott were both excited and relieved to see Molly alive. Molly waved cordially from Yasha’s arms.

“Look at you two,” he said with a grin. “You’ve got stories too, I see.” Looking to Caduceus he said, “And you must be the fellow Jester told me about. Caduceus Clay, right?”

Caduceus nodded. “That’s me. Good to see they found you, Mister Molly.”

“Caduceus,” Jester said. “I’m out of spells. Do you have any…?”

“I’ve got one or two left.” Caduceus muttered something and waved his staff towards Molly. Yasha felt Molly’s skin grow warmer. His wounds shrank and his bruises faded. “There,” Caduceus said. “That should hold him for now, but it looks like he needs a good meal more than anything.”

“I was going to take us all back to the Xhorhaus,” Caleb said. “You can make him something there.”

Caduceus smiled. “I might have to go out and get a few things, but yeah, I can.”

Caleb drew the circle that took them to Rosohna. The guards were wary of their new companion, but Yasha held him tight and glared at them. On the walk back to the Xhorhaus everyone took turns answering Molly’s questions and filling him in on the past half-year of adventures. Caleb gave Molly Frumpkin to nuzzle with. Molly seemed much happier with the cat purring on his chest. Yasha could feel it too. She shifted her grip on Molly to support him better so he could use one hand to stroke Frumpkin’s fur.

When Yasha told Molly she was finally free from Obann, he beamed up at her and patted her cheek. “I’m so proud of you,” he said. Yasha started to cry again. She would gladly have stayed in Obann’s control another hundred years if it meant Molly was going to be okay. Being free _and_ having him back was the best she could have hoped for.

Molly was more than happy to have a nice bath in the hot tub. Everyone knew they were going to have to scrub it out after this, but it was worth it. Molly already looked more like himself. They all ate well that night. Caduceus made them a hearty stew of the strange vegetables that grew in the sunless environment of the city. Molly ate until he was nearly sick. Yasha stayed by his side the whole time. When Jester told them that she had heard from Molly after sending him a message on a lark, everyone thought it was too good to be true. Now here he was, sitting at the table they had set up under the tree, eating with them, drinking with them, laughing with them, lighting up the space even more than the enchanted bulbs strung along the tree.

Caleb raised his glass. “Well, Mister Mollymauk,” he said, “with you here, the MT House is no longer so empty.”

“Caaay- _leeeb_ ,” Jester groaned. “We agreed it’s the _Xhorhaus!_ ”

Caleb shrugged. “The point is you are back where you belong.” He gestured his glass towards Molly. “Long may you reign.”

Molly grinned and clinked his glass against Caleb’s. “Long may I reign.”

The others all raised their own glasses and echoed the toast. Yasha drank with a big smile. “Long may you reign,” she said, putting her arm around her best friend.

There was talk of converting the Fun Room into a personal room for Molly. Molly smiled politely, but Yasha saw his twinge of discomfort. “No, that’s fine. I missed having a roommate. Who wants to share with me?”

Before anyone else could speak up — and they all looked like they wanted to — Yasha blurted, “ _Me!_ ”

Molly nodded. “Of course. Who else would it be?” He batted at her teasingly with his tail. “You’d better not keep me up all night with your snoring though. I need my rest.”

Yasha smiled back and grabbed for his tail. “Then you’d better not wake me up in the night with this thing,” she replied in the same joking tone. Gods, she had missed him.

It was late into the night when they all went to bed. At least Caleb said it was; Yasha still struggled with knowing what time it was here. That didn’t matter. What mattered was that she had her Mollymauk back. He stuck to her side all the way to her room. He stared in awe at the mural above her bed.

“Jester did amazing work,” he said. He leaned in close. “Let me guess, there’s a dick hidden in here somewhere, isn’t there?”

“Yep,” Yasha said. She knew exactly where it was, but she wanted Molly to find it on his own.

Molly chuckled then yawned. “I’ll look for it later. I feel like I could sleep for a century.”

Yasha prepared the bed for them. Molly moaned in delight at the feeling of a real mattress beneath him again. There were so many things he had been missing. Yasha was eager to give them all to him and then some, but what he needed most of all was rest. She curled up in bed with him, holding him tenderly but protectively. No one was going to take him away ever again.

“…Yasha?”

“Yes, Molly?”

“…Am I dreaming?”

“If you are, then so am I.”

“…Promise you’ll be here when I wake up?”

Yasha pulled him closer. “I promise if you promise.”

“Heh, I promise.”

Yasha rested her cheek on Molly’s horn. The rough yet velvety texture was heart-achingly familiar yet it had been so long since she felt it. “Good night, Mollymauk,” she said.

Molly wrapped his tail around her waist. “Good night, Yasha dear.”

It was hard to fall asleep, worrying that Molly might vanish like mist if she didn’t watch over him. She was tired too, though, and sleep tugged at the edge of her consciousness. With her last bit of waking thought, she silently thanked the Storm Lord for bringing Molly home.

Through the open door to the balcony, somewhere in the distance, Yasha heard a faint rumble of thunder.


End file.
